Hearst Bay Area Blog

Recruiting is first and foremost about building relationships. Gone are the days when employers met prospects face-to-face, kept endless paper files and tucked business cards into bursting Rolodexes. In two short decades technology has made hiring top talent much easier, replacing in-person screenings and contact databases with video chat and smartphones. The ability for a hiring manager to find that perfect candidate requires making contact, and technology facilitates the ability to connect with people around the world - which means hiring managers are sifting through more prospects than ever.

It’s no wonder social media has become an invaluable resource for 92% of recruiters, giving them the ability to screen prospects based on their profiles and get in touch immediately with prospects. But with nonstop feature updates and seemingly infinite people uploading profiles daily, it can be challenging for even the most savvy recruiters to sift through the noise of social media to find their dream applicants. In this post, we describe six ways employers can tap into social selling techniques to track down top talent.

1. Make sure social media pages are active

Prospective candidates research a company through its website, but to get more of a feel for what the company is like they may also check out its social media presence. Someone who's searching for a job will consider the number of fans following the page and how the company engages its audience as reflections of the company culture and reputation. When a company’s social media page has few followers or the community isn’t interacting with the posted content, prospective candidates might have doubts about applying for a job there.

Recruiters, work with your company’s marketing team to ensure that social media channels are set up and active. Photos and content should reflect the personality of the company and be consistent across every platform. If the Facebook cover photo features the old logo or it’s been a few days (weeks?) since the company posted content, refresh the page with new content.

2. Use and create relevant hashtags

Hashtags make it easier to link to and search for specific topics on social media. These words or phrases allow people to find the content they’re looking for and can be an effective way to attract the attention of potential applicants.

Before posting on social media, decide which keywords will be most relevant to your content. When posting a job opening, relevant keywords might include the industry (such as #retail, #hospitality), geographical location (#BayArea, #Chicago) or preferred areas of expertise (#SEO, #contentmarketing).

After making a list of the keywords most relevant to your post, research whether those hashtags are trending. If you’re recruiting to fill a Marketing Director role, do a quick search to find out if #marketingdirector is trending.

Here are just a few of the posts that show up on Twitter with the hashtag #JobOpenings.

Including multiple hashtags in your post will increase its likelihood of being seen, especially if there’s not much activity behind a highly relevant hashtag. While the #marketingdirector hashtag may not be trending, higher profile hashtags like #retail and #bayarea could bring your post up in more searches. And adding more specific hashtags like #designer and #freelance could result in your ideal candidates engaging with your post.

This Facebook post uses a combination of general (#marketingjobs) and specific (#Atlanta) keywords.

As crucial as relevant hashtags are, be mindful of what you’re selecting. Social media is continuously changing, and a keyword that makes sense for your content may have an entirely unrelated connotation as a trending term. For example, if the hashtag #freelance is trending because of a controversial news story you might want to avoid using it in your post at that time.

Last but not least, don’t forget that your company name is also a keyword, and therefore should be a hashtag.

Learn How OUSD Combined a Mix of Digital Marketing Strategies to Recruit Educators

3. Maximize LinkedIn

A reported 87% percent of recruiters use LinkedIn to find candidates, solidifying its place as the top social media channel for hiring. Recruiters benefit from LinkedIn’s versatility for everything from networking to checking references, so be sure you’re taking full advantage of its capabilities.

The company’s LinkedIn page should be updated and active, reflecting not only general information (e.g., website, location, size, areas of specialty/industry) but also content related to the company that will catch the attention of potential candidates.

While the platform is a natural fit for job listings, mix things up by sharing content that might be helpful to followers.

Post recruitment news and updates about your company like this post spotlighting a new hire.

And whether you have a premium account or not, dig into the platform’s many features. For example, as an alternative to LinkedIn’s built-in email, you can export your connections and the email address they supplied when they set up their profile, allowing you to reach out to them directly.

4. Post regularly

Social media followers hit the “like” and “follow” button because they want to engage with the brands they admire. People want businesses to post compelling, authentic content on a consistent basis to feel more connected to the company.

Share job listings and recruiting events with your community not only because your followers are more likely to share the content, but because the perfect candidate might already be a follower!

While you may not be looking to fill roles every day, regularly sharing content that shows why your company is such a great place to work can build interest in prospects once you do have a job opening available.

Share photos from company volunteer events. Post case studies highlighting innovative and successful projects. If your next recruiting event is in three months, start posting content now to generate buzz.

If the marketing team uses an editorial calendar, add in your recruitment posts so you can get content on the schedule – even you're only posting one recruitment-related post per week. The key is to post relevant content regularly and consistently.

Instagram’s visual emphasis makes it a deeply impactful way to illustrate your company’s culture. Sharing photos and videos from holiday parties, volunteer events and daily happenings around the office gives prospects insight into what it’s like to work for your company.

Recruiters can create dedicated pages and hashtags to engage followers who want to hear about the company’s recruiting efforts and check out employee perks.

Instagram provides recruiters the opportunity to show their company’s fun side while supporting their efforts using highly visual content that people love.

6. Tap employees for content

A company’s employees are its strongest ambassadors, making them valuable resources for content.

Inviting employees to participate in or develop content to recruit new talent empowers them, while conveying authenticity to your prospects. In this post, Whole Foods puts the spotlight on an employee at one of their locations who was involved in National Hiring Day.

Employee-created content is also an easy way to showcase the culture. Hubspot created the Instagram hashtag #hubspotemployeetakeover for employees to use when sharing photos from their days in the office.

Your company’s employees are proud of where they work, so welcome their involvement in your recruitment efforts on social media.

Recruiters have benefitted for years from social media’s vast reach and influence, but these tools and their capabilities don’t stay stagnant for long. Optimize your networking and recruiting using the same selling techniques that companies use to market their products.

Learn How OUSD Combined a Mix of Digital Marketing Strategies to Recruit Educators